Apparatus for the rapid replacement of the bending roll in sheet glass drawing machines



arch 14, 1967 JAVAUX 3,309,189

APPARATUS FOR THE RAPID REPLACEMENT OF THE BENDING ROLL IN SHEET GLASS DRAWING MACHINES Filed Sept. 12, 1963 United States Patent 3,309,189 APPARATUS FOR THE RAPID REPLACEMENT OF THE BENDING ROLL IN SHEET GLASS DRAW- ING MACHINES Gustave Javaux, Brussels, Belgium, assignor to Glaverbel, Brussels, Belgium, 21 Belgian company Filed Sept. 12, 1963, Ser. No. 308,381 Claims priority, application Belgium, Oct. 31, 1962, 499,157, Patent 624,382 8 Claims. (Cl. 65172) The present invention relates to an apparatus for the rapid replacement of the bending roll employed in machines for the manufacture of sheet glass by vertical drawing followed by bending.

Generally speaking, the bending roll is maintained by bearings secured to the superstructure of the machine, and an auxiliary roll is provided below the bending roll to remove the sheet and to support it during the withdrawal of the bending roll. Owing to the presence of the members for the suspension and manipulation of the auxiliary roll and the bearings of the bending roll, the latter cannot readily be removed and replaced during the operation of the machine.

In order to demount the bending roll, it is lowered within the drying chamber to the proximity of the glass bath, after the auxiliary roll has been moved towards the glass sheet on the upstream side of the bending roll, and the sheet is moved away from the bending roll by an upward movement of the said auxiliary roll. In order to fit the new bending roll, it is introduced into the drawing chamber and thereafter raised to the level of the bearings on which it is then mounted, and the auxiliary roll is lowered again on the upstream side of the bending roll in order to rest the sheet on the latter. These operations are very delicate and require complicated manipulations which constitute a danger to the manufacture. Thus, they involve the danger of touching the sheet and striking the walls or the members inside the chamber and causing foreign materials to fall onto the surface of the glass bath. Moreover, the sheet carries with it dust which is present on the auxiliary roll by which it is supported during the replacement of the bending roll. When it is returned into contact with the latter, it leaves thereon dust which adheres to it and causes the well known speckling defect in the surface of the sheet.

The apparatus according to the invention renders the replacement of the bending roll particularly simple, its removal from the chamber and its introduction into the latter taking place along the axis of the roll in the normal position. The operation is simple and rapid and thus obviates the danger of contamination of the surface of the bath. The invention affords another important advantage: That portion of the sheet which is touched by the auxiliary roll does not come into contact with the bending roll, the surface of which thus remains clean.

To this end, the apparatus according to the invention comprises removable bearings, of which the position is horizontally and vertically adjustable, and also an auxiliary roll adapted to come into contact with the glass sheet downstream of the bending roll, to lift the sheet and to remove it from the bending roll so that it passes over the latter.

The bearings preferably consist of cradles provided with rollers supporting the bending roll, the said cradles being mounted on members which permit them to rock transversely to the axis of the bending roll. These members may consist of vertical adjustment screws, on which the cradles can be horizontally displaced by means of lateral screws. In this way, the cradles can rock on the vertical screws and ensure perfect contact of the rollers with the shaft of the bending roll. The combined opera- A 3,309,189 Patented Mar. 14, 1967 tion of the vertical and lateral screws enables the roll to be brought into the correct position.

In another embodiment of the invention, each of the cradles is fast with a journal adapted to be axially displaced along an arm which is disposed transversely to the axis of the bending roll, the said arm being pivotally connected at its end to an upright and being provided with means for adjusting its inclination. This means is advantageously a screwthreaded rod pivotally connected to the arm and extending through a bracket fixed to the upright, the nut on the said screwthreaded rod bearing against the said bracket.

The position of the bending roll can be adjusted by raising or lowering of the arms, in combination with an axial displacement of the journals on the latter, while perfect contact of the rollers with the shaft of the roll is ensured by rocking of the cradles about the journals.

The auxiliary roll is received at its ends in bearings suspended by lifting means mounted on carriages adapted to move perpendicularly to the shaft of the bending roll along rolling paths, so that the auxiliary roll can be shifted from the downstream side of the bending roll to its upstream side or vice versa so as to pass over the latter. The bearings of the auxiliary roll are preferably connected to the carriages by screws controlled by hand wheels so as to raise or lower the bearings.

A number of embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings.

FIGURE 1 illustrates a constructional form of the removable bearings of the bending roll and of the mounting of the auxiliary roll.

FIGURES 2 and 3 diagrammatically illustrate the movements of the auxiliary roll according to the invention as compared with those of a usual auxiliary roll.

FIGURE 4 illustrates a modified construction of the device supporting the bearings of the bending roll.

The bending roll 1 (FIGURE 1) is supported by bearings 2 of cradle form comprising rollers 3. The ends 4 of the bearing 2 bear by way of guide grooves 5 against vertical adjustment screws 6 fast with the frame 7, on which screws the bearing can be displaced by the action of the lateral screws 8. The bearings can therefore rock on the screws 6 so as to ensure perfect contact between the rollers 3 and the bending roll 1. The combined adjustment of the screws 6 and 8 thus makes it possible to impart to the bending roll a correct position in the machine.

An auxiliary roll 8 situated below the drawn sheet 10 is received at each of its ends in a bearing 11 fast with a screw 12 maintained on a carriage 13 by a handwheel 14, by rotation of which the screw 12 can be raised and lowered with the roll 9. The carriage 13 comprises rollers 15 which enable it to be displaced along a rolling track 16 fast with the frame 7.

For replacing the bending roll 1, the handwheel 14 is so actuated as to lift the auxiliary roll 9 (FIGURES l and 2) with the sheet 10, and the carriage is then pushed from the position 13 to the position 13, whereby the sheet 10 is removed from the bending roll 1 and brought into the position 10 illustrated in broken lines. The bending roll 1 is then gripped by means of an appropriate handling device and the bearing 2 is lowered, so that the bending roll 1 can be removed by withdrawing it axially from the machine. The new roll is introduced in the same way and positioned on the bearings when the latter have been returned into position. The carriage is thereafter brought from the position 13' to its position 13 and, by an opposite manipulation of the handwheel 14, the roll 9 is lowered, so that the glass sheet 10 is deposited on the new bending roll 1.

This apparatus affords a great advantage from the viewpoint of the quality of the manufactured sheet. In the system usually employed, an auxiliary roll 9 (FIG- URE 3) lifts the glass sheet 10 from the bending roll 1 upstream of the atter along the path indicated by the chain line 17. When the sheet is returned into contact with the bending roll 1, it deposits on the latter the dust which it has collected in its passage over the auxiliary roll 9. This dust adheres to the bending roll 1 and produces in the surface of the sheet the well known defect called speckling.

This is avoided with the apparatus according to the invention, since the auxiliary roll 9 (FIGURE 2) comes into contact with the sheet 10 downstream of the bending roll and lifts it over the latter along the path 18 represented by the broken lines. For repositioning the sheet 10 on the bending roll 1, the auxiliary roll 9 is returned to its initial position at a speed substantially equal to the drawing speed of the sheet 10, so that the latter comes into contact with the bending roll 1 only when the contaminated portion has passed downstream of the latter.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIGURE 4, the bearings 2 are fast with journals 19, of which the bearings 20 are fixed to a base plate 21 which can be shifted along an arm 22. The arm 22 is secured to the frame 7 by a pin joint 23 about which it can pivot. The position of the arm 22 is adjusted by a screw 24 from which it is suspended and of which the nut 25 bears against a bracket 26 fast with the frame 7.

Correct contact of the rollers 3 with the bending roll 1 is ensured by rocking of the bearing 2 with the journal 19 and the position of the bending roll 1 is adjusted by displacement of the bearing 2 along the arm 22 and by lowering or raising of the latter.

Of course, the invention is not limited to the embodiments which have been described and illustrated by way of example and modifications could be made thereto without departing from its scope.

I claim:

1. In apparatus for manufacturing sheet glass by vertical drawing, the combination of a bending roll about which the vertically drawn sheet of glass is bent into a substantially horizontal plane, first means supporting said bending roll for rotatable movement about a horizontal axis, an auxiliary roll for supporting the glass sheet out of contact with the bending roll to permit replacement of the latter, and second means for supporting said auxiliary roll in an inactive position spaced downstream from said bending roll and beneath the substantially horizontally bent portion of the glass sheet, said second supporting means being so constructed and arranged that it is operable to move said auxiliar roll up into engagement with the substantially horizontal portion of the glass sheet and over said bending roll in an upstream direction Without disturbing the latter so as to lift the glass sheet out of contact with said bending roll to permit replacement of the latter, and to return said auxiliary roll downstream over the new bending roll to its inactive position whereby the glass sheet is redeposited on the bending roll.

2.- Apparatus as defined i cla m in h s a d first supporting means comprises cradle bearing supports provided with hearing elements on which said bending roll rests so that the latter may be lifted or removed axially from such supporting means without disturbing the latter, and so that said first supporting means offers no interference to the said movements of said auxiliary roll.

3. Apparatus as defined in claim 2, in which said first supporting means includes means supporting each cradle bearing support and constructed and arranged to enable said cradle bearing support to rock about an axis disposed transversely to the axis of said bending roll.

4. Apparatus as defined in claim 3, in which said cradle bearing supports each includes a pair of aligned arms extending outwardly transversely to the axis of said bending roll, and in which said cradle supporting means comprises a first movable means pivotally supporting said arms, a second movable means engaging the outer ends of said arms, and means supporting said first and second movable means.

5. Apparatus as defined in claim 3, in which said cradle supporting means comprises a journal carrying each cradle bearing support, means pivotally supporting said journal, an arm extending transversely to the axis of said bending roll, said flange supporting means being movably mounted on said arm to displace said journal axially along said arm, a frame member, means pivotally supporting one end of said arm on said frame member, and means connected to said arm and said frame member for fixing the angular position of said arm relative to said frame member.

6. Apparatus as defined in claim 5, in which said connected means comprises a bracket fixed to said frame member, a threaded rod pivotally connected at one end to said arm at a place spaced from said frame member and extending through said bracket, and a nut threaded on said threaded rod and bearing against said bracket.

7. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, in which said second supporting means comprises a pair of spaced tracks located above said bending roll and extending transversely to the axis of said roll, a movable carriage mounted on each of said tracks, a bearing for one end of said auxiliary roll depending from each carriage, and bearing supporting means carried by each carriage and operable to raise and lower said bearing relative to said carriage.

8. Apparatus as defined in claim 7, in which said bearing supporting means comprises a substantially vertically disposed element having said auxiliary roll bearing secured thereto below said carriage and extending upwardly therefrom to said carriage, and adjustable means carried by said carriage for shifting said element upwardly and downwardly.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,529,268 3/1925 Neenan l73 X DONALL H. SYLVESTER, Primary Examiner.

A.- .Di KELLOGG, Assistant Examiner, 

1. IN AN APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING SHEET GLASS BY VERTICAL DRAWING, THE COMBINATION OF A BENDING ROLL ABOUT WHICH THE VERTICALLY DRAWN SHEET OF GLASS IS BENT INTO A SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL PLANE, FIRST MEANS SUPPORTING SAID BENDING ROLL FOR ROTATABLE MOVEMENT ABOUT A HORIZONTAL AXIS, AN AUXILIARY ROLL FOR SUPPORTING THE GLASS SHEET OUT OF CONTACT WITH THE BENDING ROLL TO PERMIT REPLACEMENT OF THE LATTER, AND SECOND MEANS FOR SUPPORTING SAID AUXILIARY ROLL IN AN INACTIVE POSITION SPACED DOWNSTREAM FROM SAID BENDING ROLL AND BENEATH THE SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTALLY BENT PORTION OF THE GLASS SHEET, SAID SECOND SUPPORTING MEANS BEING SO CONSTRUCTED AND ARRANGED THAT IT IS OPERABLE TO MOVE SAID AUXILIARY ROLL UP INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH THE SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL PORTION OF THE GLASS SHEET AND OVER SAID BENDING ROLL IN AN UPSTREAM DIRECTION WITHOUT DISTURBING THE LATTER SO AS TO LIFT THE GLASS SHEET OUT OF CONTACT WITH SAID BENDING ROLL TO PREMIT REPLACEMENT OF THE LATTER, AND TO RETURN SAID AUXILIARY ROLL DOWNSTREAM OVER THE NEW BENDING ROLL TO ITS INACTIVE POSITON WHEREBY THE GLASS SHEEET IS REDEPOSITED ON THE BENDING ROLL. 